On-line teaching and learning: New roles for participants

For many years now, new technologies have been being applied in educational
contexts with a variety of goals and intentions. The technologies have often
been applied in response to an economic imperative, for example, in universities
where technology has been seen as a means to create cost efficiencies. In schools,
the new technologies have often been embraced with a view to creating more effective
settings for learning. In distance education across all sectors, the technologies
have been applied to create more open and accessible learning programs. In all
these applications, we have observed valiant attempts by innovative and keen
practitioners to solve some educational problem through the astute use of the
new technologies.

The pace of the adoption of the new technologies has increased in recent years
and today there are few people in education and training who have not been affected
in some way by this uptake. The big move has been to on-line teaching and learning
which is gaining momentum by the minute. But some people are beginning to question
how well the use of the technologies is meeting the needs of the stakeholders
in the educational process and whether or not the full potential of this massive
investment is being met. What we are seeing in many instances is the use of
new technologies to replicate traditional teaching practices. In this forum,
I will argue that to gain the full potential from the new technologies and on-line
teaching and learning, participants need to alter their roles. On-line teaching
and learning has created a whole new learning paradigm and significantly changed
roles for everyone, including teachers, students and in many cases, the providers
of support services.

TEACHING & LEARNING PRACTICES

In most educational sectors, students in past years have become accustomed
to quite similar forms of teaching and learning. Learning experiences have tended
to involve a combination of influences including teacher-centred classrooms
involving various forms of learning activity and assessments. Those who have
tried to generalise this form of teaching have suggested a number of typical
aspects.

a. Conventional Teaching

Table 1 shows some typical elements of conventional teaching practices. The
curriculum content is usually fixed and presented in linear and sequential ways.
Mastery of existing knowledge and concepts is sought before students are led
to the next set. In terms of learning activities, people only need to think
of their own learning experiences in school and university. Typical activities
involve learning tasks that are segmented and fragmented to make them more easily
achieved. The activities tend to lack any real life context and are usually
presented in abstract forms bearing little relevance to settings beyond the
classroom.

content

activities

implementation

• fixed

• linear

• structured

• fragmented

• lack of context

• abstracted

• teacher as expert

• individual learning

• discrete assessment

Table 1.

Typical elements of conventional teaching practices

In most cases, the teacher plays the role of the expert delivering knowledge to the learners. Learners act in passive modes working individually to complete the set tasks. Assessment of learning is done through pencil and paper tests measuring competency in the various elements of the curriculum.

There have been many critics of these forms of teaching and learning and for
years innovators and practitioners have been exploring teaching and learning
strategies capable of delivering more effective and more enriched learning outcomes.
Many of the outcomes from conventional teaching have long been recognised as
insufficient and unsatisfactory. Successful students have often been found to
have employed surface level learning strategies. Learners have frequently been
found to be incapable of applying and transferring the learning to practical
settings. Learning has been found to be temporary and short-lived.

Contemporary Teaching

For some time now, educational researchers, classroom teachers and curriculum developers have been exploring ways to increase the effectiveness of teaching programs and in particular, classroom learning. The learning theories have always suggested that what is needed is more active involvement of the learners in the learning process. Theories of learning have been developed which explain the way in which learning is achieved through knowledge construction. The integral role of communication between learners has been explored and the value of collaboration and co-construction of knowledge developed. At the same time, curriculum developments have moved from descriptions of the content to be learned to environments where outcomes of learning have been made discrete. The role of assessment has been recognised and given a more fundamental place in the learning process. The sum of these developments suggests a changed direction for educational planning and Table 2 provides a means to compare these contemporary teaching ideas with those of the past.

content

activities

implementation

• flexible

• outcomes oriented

• unstructured

• global and anchored

• contextualised

• authentic

• teacher as coach

• collaborative learning

• integrated assessment

Table 2.

Characteristics of contemporary teaching ideas

TEACHING & LEARNING ON-LINE

The advent of on-line technologies coupled with an emerging recognition of the importance of effective teaching in university settings are acting together as catalysts to change the face and nature of university teaching and learning. Through on-line technologies, we finally we have the means to create the forms learning environments that we know work best. The classroom of tomorrow is starting to emerge and it is quite different to the classroom to which many are accustomed. Perhaps the most noticeable difference is in the roles of the participants. Everyone seems to be doing things a bit differently.

a. Changed roles for learners

The first thing often observed about learners in the on-line classroom is the degree of self-regulation and self-determination. On-line environments provide both teachers and learners with access to more open forms of content and away from the rigid structures to which we have been accustomed. What are the new roles for the participants in this regard? Many possibilities exist.

Freedom of Information. Whereas previously teachers might have organised courses around a single printed text, the opportunities created by on-line learning encourage the adoption of quite different sources of information and through this, changed roles for the learners using the materials and the teachers who provide access to them.

Active Learners. On-line learning can be an active and engaging experience. There’s not much room for spectating in a well-designed on-line learning environment. Students are encouraged to collaborate and work together. The environment is usually one of a shared learning space with learners attentive and receptive to others in the class.

Authentic Activities. The move to on-line is coinciding with moves to more authentic learning settings. The on-line technologies encourage and support such strategies as problem-based learning, case-based learning and even work-place learning. The concept of a classroom as a place of learning is expanded as the classroom loses it boundaries.

Generic Skills. Learning on-line encourages and supports the development of a range of students’ key and generic skills. There are a raft of useful skills that can be developed through networked learning including information literacy, task management and working with others. Learners become self-sufficient and cognisant of their own role in influencing what is learned. It’s all about who takes responsibility for what is learned.

b. Changed roles for the teachers.

Teachers of on-line learning become quite different to their contemporaries in terms of their roles and responsibilities. The differences appear in how they interact with their learners and how they manage and implement their learning settings.

The Coach. Their role is that of a guide or a coach. No longer the sage on the stage, the on-line teachers provides the learners with access to a variety of independent learning experiences. There’s only a minor place for lecturing or other forms of teacher-directdness in these settings. The most active person in the environment is the learner and often the teacher is a spectator of learning shouting advice from the sidelines.

The Learning Designer. Where the teacher does play a vital role is in designing the learning activities. In the past, few university teachers have ever thought about teaching. All they have had to consider is what is to be taught. Rarely has this thought wandered to how it might be learned. We all know that no one learns much by listening yet for so long this has been the way. Now the teacher has to plan engaging learning activities. For many this is and will be a new experience but represents an integral part of on-line teaching.

Teaching for Outcomes. In the past learning has been planned as exposure to a set curriculum. Curricula have been designed in the form of the content to be learned. But the modern view is that what is important is what learners can do when they have finished learning. The emphasis is moving from stipulation of the inputs, to consideration and stipulation of the outputs. The learning activities need to reflect how the learning will be used in the future and this creates large differences in the ways teachers consider their subjects and their delivery methods.

Assessment. The move to an outcomes-oriented approach carries with it changes to assessment strategies. If teachers wish to gain measures of the success of their students in demonstrating learning outcomes, the least valuable way is through pencil and paper tests. We are now seeing a variety of assessment strategies being used. These strategies reflect how the learning is to be used. They often involve more authentic settings (in place of the academic or abstract setting) and often are integral parts of the learning process. Yes, students can learn through assessment activities, and in fact assessment activities are among the most influential learning activities given the enthusiasm with which most university students attend to tasks they know are being assessed.

c. Changes for the Support Services and Administration

As we move to more on-line learning, a number of other different behaviour
patterns will emerge. On-campus learners will become off-campus learners and
students will have choices in when and where they will learn. Internal courses
will merge seamlessly with external offerings. Off- campus learners will learn
alongside their on-campus counterparts. What does all this mean for the institution?
Some of the changes that come around include:

Service provision. The ability to provide services to all learners
is an important consideration in the move to on-line learning. For example,
tservices of the library must be made accessible to students who do not wish
to physically visit. Counselling services and other forms of student assistance
should not apply only to those learners who attend the campus. The task of
making all services accessible to all learners is a big challenge .

Infrastructure Support. On-line learning demands reliable and efficient
communications networks and infrastructure. Universities must look to ensure
that these services are continuous and reliable. Technology can be an impediment
to learning. Good support systems are needed to minimise these.

Teacher Training. Some would argue that a large number of university
teachers have no idea of how to teach effectively in a face-to-face mode let
alone in an on-line mode. In an on-line mode, appropriately trained teachers
and tutors are essential elements of an effective teaching program.

Equity. The moves to on-line learning create many dilemmas and issues
in relation to equity. If the move to a more flexible and improved set of
services to learners restricts education to a privileged set, many would argue
that we are failing our stakeholders and clients.

These issues demonstrate the need for universities moving to embrace on-line
learning need also to consider the ways in which they offer courses and support
student learning. There are many people within the organisation whose roles
and responsibilities are changing as a consequence of these moves.

Possible Questions for Discussion

Is the scenario of a converged on-line learning community of university students an example of stargazing or is this scenario really happening and becoming mainstream?

Will the on-line phenomenon keep moving or might it trip and be derailed by other forces?

How do we train staff to be effective teachers in the digital era? Is being a content expert enough?

For whom is the changed role the biggest problem? The students, the teachers or the institutions?

Does on-line learning always mean better learning? How can institutions move to safeguard the quality of their on-line learning programs?